The Taste of a Boy's Kiss: The Jaustin series
by sarah-of-nine
Summary: Ongoing series of how Justin and Austin came to be, and how their relationship develops as they mature into it.
1. Chocolate and Vanilla

**The taste of a boy's kiss**

_**Chocolate**_

The skinny, dark-haired boy was sitting on the bed in his room, with his knees pulled tightly to his chest. Had he been looking up he would have revealed a pair of deeply chocolate-brown eyes, framed by long dark lashes. Right now they were shut though, as he was pressing his face into his thighs, quietly contemplating the events of the past few days.

The purple walls around him were covered with posters of David Bowie and Lady Gaga. Not the usual idols of a fifteen year old boy, but then again… he wasn't quite like other teenagers.

His cell phone lay next to him on top of the bed spread, ignored and observed at the same time. He stretched out his hand to grab it, and looked up from pressing his face into his knees. For what felt like the 75'th time that evening, he hit "re-dial" and put the phone to his ear.

One signal. Two signals. Lots of signals. Answering machine.

"_Hi, you've reached Austin's phone, I'm probably busy right now, but leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible." _Beep.

"Hey Austin… just leaving another message, don't really know how you feel about what happened… uhm, you know the…kiss. Maybe you lost your phone or something, uh, don't really know… probably not… Uhm, anyway, you can call me back. Uh, this is Justin".

Justin flipped back the lid on the phone, quietly asking himself why he bothered. He didn't even know what he would tell Austin if he ever got the chance to speak to him again. Everything had happened so fast; one minute they were rivals, the other they were kissing.

Kiss. Austin had kissed him. That sandy-haired white boy had kissed him; right after Justin had caught him making out with Lily.

And Justin was almost sure he wanted Austin to do it again. Almost.

He swung his skinny legs over the edge of the bed and walked out of his room. The scent of popcorn and candy apples filled his nostrils, reminding him that Aunt Betty was removing her braces today. He walked past his mother Hilda, who was decorating the living room Suarez-style. In the kitchen, Papi was busy cooking corn on the cob while trying to watch the latest episode of his favourite _telenovela. _

"You need any help, grandpa?" Justin asked, putting on his best fake smile. The cell phone was resting in his pocket, and he could have sworn he could feel it burn his skin through his pants.

_**Vanilla **_

Mom had made pasta carbonara, his favourite, and he had never tasted anything so disgusting in his life. Not that the food itself was bad; it was as perfect as ever. It was just that every bite seemed to grow to massive proportions in his mouth, and he was worried he might vomit right into his plate. Lost in thoughts, he poked the spaghetti around, unable to finish his meal.

Fifteen year old boys are said to have an unlimited appetite, but right now nothing tasted good. Not even the thought of the vanilla-flavored pie they'd have for dessert was sweet enough for him. The taste of Justin's lips against his was still haunting him, never wanting to leave, and making everything else taste like dust.

"Austin baby, are you alright?" his mother asked from across the table. Austin looked up from his plate only to meet the eyes of his family. His mother Megan shot a concerned look at his father, Pete, who shrugged. _Maybe the boy's just not hungry._

His older brother and sister stared at him, perhaps wondering why their confident little brother had been so quiet the past few days, but not caring enough to ask. They continued to shovel their pasta into their mouths, the sight sending a ripple of nausea through Austin.

Carefully, he pulled himself together.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm just tired that's all" Austin lied, still not touching his food.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll grab something later if I get hungry. I just don't feel like eating right now" he replied, giving up the thought of eating just to make her happy.

His mother nodded, still not sure he was being honest with her.

Why the hell had he kissed him? It was such a stupid thing to do, and yet he couldn't remember anything ever feeling so right. Austin sighed; he'd been ignoring Justin's calls deliberately, but the sound of his voice had sent shivers down his spine. Justin still cared; Justin still wanted to talk to him. The question was, was that all Austin wanted?

"Mom, Dad…" he began, carefully picking his words. "If you thought you, uh, might like someone, but you weren't sure the person liked you back, what would you do?"

Once again, his entire family was staring at him.

"Well… I guess I'd go find out the answer" his Dad said tentatively.

"Be right back", Austin said, heading for the hallway and his red jacket. He could hear his parents calling out for him, but the sound of their voices died behind him as he stepped out through the front door.

_**Caramel**_

"Oh Justin, how cute!" Aunt Betty called out as she opened the make-up box Justin had gotten for her. Inside was lipstick all shades and colours; a celebration to her now perfect smile. She pulled the boy in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Justin felt himself leaning into the embrace like a child who is hungry for love. He pulled back though, not wanting his family to notice that he was desperate for someone to talk to. Papi and Hilda oohed and aahed at the gift, and Aunt Betty shot each one of them a bright white smile. This was her time to shine.

All of a sudden the door bell rang.

"Justin, can you get that?" Hilda asked her son.

"Sure", Justin said, and made a bee-line for the door. The party was in full mode around him, and cheerful Spanish tunes were making their way out of the speakers. Absent-mindedly, he opened the door only to reveal a sandy-haired boy his own age, wearing a big red winter jacket.

_Austin._

Justin's jaw dropped to the floor. "Oh my God, he's here, he's really here", he thought, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Austin shot him a small one-sided smile, hands firmly placed in pockets and an ever-so slight look of hope in his blue eyes.

Nervously, Justin looked away to see if his family had spotted Austin, but they were too busy eating and drinking. In a single heart beat, Justin made a decision, and slipped into the vestibule, softly shutting the door behind him. He leaned back against the door, quietly regarding the boy in front of him.

"Hi", Justin breathed.

"Hi" Austin replied, leaning against the front door, hands still in pockets. "Can we talk?"

"I've been trying to call you" Justin said, not sure if it was an accusation or not.

"I know, I've just… I don't really know what to say. I don't know why I did what I did" Austin said, and looked down at his feet.

Justin wrapped his arms tightly around his chest, and looked the other way too.

"You kissed me" he mumbled, and suddenly the temperature in the otherwise chilly vestibule seemed to rise ten degrees.

Austin looked up, and Justin met his eye.

"I've been thinking and… I liked it. I wouldn't mind doing it again" Justin began, trying to find the right words to explain how he felt.

Austin pulled his hands out of his pockets, and raked his fingers through his hair.

_I'd love to kiss you again too Justin._

"I've never dated a guy before" Austin said. Justin shot him a confused look.

"Who says we're dating?" he asked, not following Austin's line of thoughts.

"Wouldn't you want to try it… going out, I mean?" Austin asked him, challenged him.

Justin looked at the boy in front of him. Going out. Yeah. Suddenly, here in this emotionally overheated vestibule, that thought didn't seem so strange.

"Yes… I would like to try that" Justin giggled nervously as the mood unexpectedly lightened. Austin giggled too, feeling something he hadn't felt before. The world seemed softer, brighter, and Justin's laughter was adorable.

"Uhm so… I'll call you. I should probably get back home, my parents don't know where I am" Austin stuttered, feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the realization that he found Justin cute.

"Yeah, uhm, I'll talk to you later. Wait, I'll let you out" Justin said, and shot past his companion to open the front door. The latino boy turned around, suddenly finding himself face to face with Austin, who found himself thinking that maybe this wasn't the right time to find out just how very small this vestibule was.

Justin looked into Austin's big blue eyes, feeling his breath against his face. Austin softly put his hand on his arm, and they clumsily leaned in and pressed their lips together. It was wet and brief and hardly what you could call an experienced kiss, but it was completely spontaneous and so terribly erotic that both boys felt their hands shaking when they pulled apart no more than 2 seconds later.

"Bye" Austin breathed, and walked out through the door, leaving Justin following his red jacket down the road as he disappeared into the night.


	2. New Territories

**New Territories**

Beep!

Justin Suarez's cell phone loudly proclaimed that he'd received a text message. Still somewhat half-asleep, he stretched his hand out and grabbed the phone on the nightstand. Yawning, with his black hair disarrayed, he flipped open the lid to check his messages.

_Hey Justin, just wondering if you want to walk to school with me today. Your house, in 30? – Austin_

Justin smiled as his fingertips danced over the keys.

_I'll be there! – Justin_

"Oh, that is vile!" he yelped as he threw off the covers to get out of bed, cold air hitting his thin frame as he left the comfort of the still warm blankets.

"Now what to wear, what to wear…" He mumbled to himself as he opened the closet. Fashion obsessed as he was, everything he owned was stylish, but lately he'd been feeling like nothing he wore was good enough.

"Gaga, you've gotta help a girl out" he sighed, and put Lady Gaga's 'The fame Monster' into the cd-player. The music hit him like a wall of fire, instantly waking him up completely. He grabbed as many shirts and pants he could carry, and threw it all down on the chair next to his mirror.

Black shirt's boring, white shirt's too white, green's not my colour today, purple makes me look fat…

"Ugh!" he groaned, rolling his eyes at his reflection. "Why does this dating-thing have to be so difficult, seriously, it's like a crossover between Sweeney Todd and the Little shop of horrors…" he thought angrily to himself, and then suddenly it hit him.

"Checkered shirt it is!"

Satisfied, he put on his outfit while humming the tunes of "Suddenly Seymour".

I

Downstairs, his Aunt Betty was desperately trying to cover up the fact that the bachelorette party she'd planned for his mother Hilda wasn't quite what his flamboyant, street-smart Mom had counted on it to be.

"Uhh, I was keeping the _real _party a surprise!" Betty reassured her sister, while trying to figure out what the hell she was gonna do now that Hilda thought the champagne tour was a joke.

"Oooh, okay, good!" Hilda called out happily, while her fiancé Bobby was still laughing at the "joke".

"You're gonna love it!" she added nervously, while slipping past her sister who was jokingly hushing at her.

"Oh AB, you've done it again" Justin thought as he watched his aunt fly out through the front door. Eager to meet up with Austin he walked by his mother and his soon-to-be stepfather without paying much attention to them.

"Hey Justin, do you want a ride to school?" Bobby called behind him.

"No sorry, I'm walking with Austin" Justin called back as he disappeared through the back door. Bobby shook his head, wondering why Justin acted so strangely. Either he was busy with his cell phone, sending texts every three minutes, or he stayed in his room with the door locked for hours, or he just plain ignored Bobby. And who the hell was this Austin kid?

"I don't know what is up with that boy lately" Bobby sighed, desperate to please his fiancées son.

Hilda slapped him gently on the chest, and shot him a reassuring smile.

"Ay please, you're gonna be his new step father, that's gotta be hard for the kid. Give him a break" she told him, a bit baffled herself that her son, _her _son, would voluntarily walk _anywhere. _Not enough to let it bother her though. She had a wedding to plan.

I

The sun was the colour of lemon as Justin walked out through the door. Austin was waiting by the fence, occupied with his cell phone. "Maybe he's texting me, wondering why I'm taking so long" Justin mused, realizing that he liked the thought of Austin being that eager to see him.

"Hey!" he called out, waving his hand. The sandy-haired boy looked up, and a bright smile emerged on his face. He put the phone in his pocket, and Justin walked up to him to greet him. Smiling nervously, he raked his fingers through his bangs, still not quite sure how to do this.

Austin bit his lip, and giggled nervously. Justin was so adorable, something he'd recently discovered. It would just take some time to handle it.

"Shall we go?" he asked, and made a gesture toward the street with his shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be late" Justin replied, and together they set a course for school, and yet another day of secretly texting each other during class.

It had been almost a week since they'd decided to try dating. Each other that was. Justin had never gone out with anyone before, let alone another guy. Not that they'd actually _gone out _yet; they'd spent some time at each other's houses, and in between classes at school, but they had yet to have their first official date.

Justin couldn't resist stealing glances of Austin as they were wandering down the streets of Queens. This whole thing was so new, so unexpected, and so confusing. And Austin was… well, he was…

"You're so cute" Justin blurted out, thinking out loud. "Oh… darn" he thought, but there was no going back now.

Austin giggled at the terrified look on Justin's face.

"And you're adorable" he told him.

Both boys looked down at their feet, feeling a sense of warmth spreading through their bodies.

With rosy cheeks, and nervous smiles adorning their faces, they finally reached school. Inside they said their goodbyes, heading for their different classes. Here, they were nothing but friends; both of them knowing what would happen if the word got out about their budding relationship.

I

Justin caught sight of Vicky and Bella, his two best friends in school, and waved at them. Both girls were looking behind him though, not taking notice of their fabulously stylish friend. Confused, Justin looked behind him to see what was going on.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, wondering if they'd decided to ignore him today.

"Who is _that?_" Bella asked, pointing at Austin who was getting books from his locker. Justin caught the look of appreciation on both girls' faces, and put one arm around each friend.

"That's Austin, ladies, and he's not available. Come on, we're gonna be late" he urged them on, trying to divert their attention from his... whatever Austin was.

I

A week later, Justin was torn between feeling happy for his mother, whom Aunt Betty had surprised with a bachelorette trip to London, and feeling cranky about being left in New York, stuck in mr Jackson's history class.

Mr. Jackson was a terribly bad teacher, because he spent his entire classes lecturing, but in a way he was an amazingly _good _teacher because this meant he never noticed if you were paying attention or not. Justin certainly had better things to do than to listen to him repeating facts, choosing instead to reply to Austin's text messages.

_From: Austin_

_To: Justin_

_Science sucks. Wanna play video games after school?_

_From: Justin_

_To: Austin_

_Urgh. I hate science. History's not much better. Your place or mine?_

_From: Austin_

_To: Justin_

_Yours. Let's skip last hour. _

Justin felt all giddy as he read that last text. He couldn't wait to see Austin again, and the thought of Austin being prepared to skip class just to be with him was almost overwhelming. He'd had troubles sleeping lately, not being able to get the other boy off his mind. He was slowly coming to the conclusion that he had a crush, but not like when he'd thought he had a crush on Lily. This time it was different. It was a thousand times more difficult than with Lily, and at the same time it was so much easier.

They had been moving slowly, keeping their physical contact down to careful embraces and brief kisses. Not counting that first time, they had only kissed twice; once in the vestibule for about 2 seconds, and once while watching TV in Justin's room. The last kiss had hardly been more than a light peck, but the sheer taboo of it was enough to leave them both completely out of breath.

Knowing that mr Jackson would never notice, Justin put on his headphones and let himself disappear into GaGa land.

I

Austin on the other hand wasn't as lucky. He had to conduct an experiment along with his lab partner Brian, and that certainly didn't leave room for him to keep texting Justin or to listen to music.

As opposed to Justin, who was still struggling with how he should define his new found feelings, Austin already knew that he was crushing hard. "Does that make me gay?" he thought, while working on his hypothesis. Hardly a great combination, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the other boy. He'd been contemplating asking him out on a real date, but wasn't sure when to bring it up.

Austin had always been confident, and the thought of going out in public with Justin didn't scare him nearly as much as he had thought it would. Instead, he couldn't wait to take him out and treat him to something really nice.

"I'll ask him after school" he decided, and returned to his experiment.

I

"Hello! Is anybody home?" Justin called out as he and Austin stumbled into the hallway, while balancing school bags, books, and coats. His grandfather, Ignacio Suarez a.k.a Papi, emerged from the kitchen, wearing his trademark apron. His smile beneath his graying mustache was bright as always, and he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"_Hola _boys! Why, you're home early today, didn't you have class 'til 4?" he said, looking slightly surprised.

Justin and Austin exchanged looks, and Justin cleared his throat while Austin shimmied out of his jacket.

"Uh, last hour was cancelled, teacher's meeting…" Justin told his grandfather, hoping he'd buy it. Lucky for him, papi was hungry for company, and didn't mind the boys being around.

"Sit down, sit down! I'm working on some new recipes; I need two strong young men to help me eat when I'm finished. You guys want some popcorn?" Ignacio told them in his usual overtly enthusiastic fashion.

Justin waved his hand and ushered him into the kitchen.

"You can bring them out when they're ready, we're gonna play video games. Seriously grandpa, this is not a tavern, you don't need to be at our service" Justin said while fending off his grandfather's protests.

"Alright, alright _papito_, I'm leaving" Ignacio said and put his hands in the air in an 'I give up' gesture. Austin watched the show that was playing out before him, giggling to himself. This Latin family was so different from his own Irish-American one. The Suarez clan sure enjoyed some good drama.

Papi backed off into his kitchen to continue his work, and Justin turned around and sighed. He slumped down next to Austin on the couch.

"Alone at last" Austin smiled, and nudged the other boy lightly. Justin clasped and unclasped his hands, not forgetting that his grandfather was in the other room, but he returned Austin's smile.

"So it seems" he replied.

The scent of popcorn soon wavered out into the living room, and papi brought them a big bowl along with two glasses of coke. Justin shyly kept the distance between them, not wanting to sit too close to his friend, but the atmosphere was lighthearted. Austin kept kicking Justin's ass though, since Justin refused to play with both hands. "I am graceful at all times" he told Austin, who snorted in amusement. "You are just too much" he muttered, and bashed Justin's character's head in.

"Hey!" Justin protested. Austin laughed triumphantly as he won the game, and then he paused and put the controller on the table before he turned to Justin. "Okay Austin, here goes nothing" he thought to himself, and pulled a deep breath.

"You know I love hanging out at your house. Playing video games and watching movies…but… do you think we should go somewhere else sometime?"

Justin took his eyes off the game.

"What, like your house?" he asked, clearly not getting where Austin was going. Austin shrugged, trying to find the right words.

"Like on a date" he replied, as casually as possible. "Oh hell" Justin thought, his eyes not hiding his shock over Austin's bold move.

"Is that weird…?" Austin added, not really knowing if guys asked other guys out on dates.

"No, no, not at all!" Justin quickly replied, a little too reassuringly. "I love it", he continued, and then realized it was true. "You know, our first real date" he finished, feeling that strange warmth in his chest again.

They both smiled to themselves, not quite understanding that they were slowly losing themselves in the bliss of first love.

Austin, feeling confident once again, decided to cut to the chase.

"How about tomorrow night?"

"What are we gonna do?" Justin asked, trying to show that he was keen on the idea. Austin smiled coyly, and bit his lower lip.

"I'll surprise you" he smirked, and the tone in his voice sounded more adult, more seductive than any he had ever used before. Justin felt something different awaken within him, something he would have called 'desire' if he had been older and more experienced. Now it just resulted in him rewarding Austin with a warm smile, which disappeared into a look of fear and shame as he heard the door slam, and Bobby calling out his name. Faster than lightning he shot up from his position on the couch, and nervously hid his hands behind his back. The moment was gone.

I

"Fuck… I don't wanna go out with grandpa and Bobby" Justin groaned as he lay on his stomach on the bed, lazily browsing through the latest edition of MODE magazine. A couple of days earlier, his mother's fiancé had unknowingly forced the boys to cancel their first date, and Justin was still not quite over it.

David Bowie's "Cat People" was booming out of the speakers, and Austin was busy going through Justin's closet.

"Ah, don't worry about it; we're going to that Beyoncé concert together, remember? Hey, do you think this is my colour?" he asked giddily, turning around and holding out a pink tee in front of him. Justin put down the magazine, and giggled at the other boy.

"I thought you didn't care about fashion?" Justin teased him, and bit his tongue while shooting off a smile.

"I don't, I just thought it would make you happy if I at least _tried _to care" Austin replied, smiling back while dangling the t-shirt in front of him. It looked terribly silly, and Justin started laughing.

"Well?" Austin continued, not letting it go, even though he had a hard time holding it in himself.

"Put it on then and let me see!" Justin said, still laughing. "Alright then!" the sandy-haired boy said, and started pulling off his own shirt, revealing a nicely toned upper body. The action stopped Justin dead in his laughter, and he suddenly realized that seeing Austin like that awoke that same feeling he'd had before in the living room. Mesmerized, his eyes were glued to the boy's pale skin, and he ran his gaze up and down Austin's body.

Austin on the other hand was eager to get that pink shirt on, as he had quickly realized how his being half-naked had made them both feel – something he wasn't quite ready for yet. He pulled the shirt on, feeling more secure when covered up. He met Justin's chocolate brown gaze, the tension lingering in the air. Slowly, he walked up to the bed, feeling his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Justin was breathing hard, feeling how the mood had suddenly changed. He didn't dare say a word, afraid he magic of the moment would instantly disappear.

Austin climbed onto the bed, not taking his eyes off Justin's. Justin rolled over to his back as Austin lay down beside him, and the Latin boy softly put his hand on the fair-haired boy's arm.

Austin rested his head in his hand, looking down at Justin whose chest was heaving up and down, entirely caught up in what was happening between them. This was new territory. Something had changed.

Slowly, Justin let his hand slide over to Austin's back, pulling him closer. Austin put his hands on either side of Justin, moving so that they came up face to face.

Justin looked up at Austin, his hand sliding up and down the length of his back, tentatively feeling the muscles underneath the pink shirt. He could feel the other boy shivering, and realized he was shivering too.

Austin moved in and softly brushed his lips against Justin's. Justin shut his eyes, not wanting this to end. At first, they gently pressed their lips together in feather-light, almost childish kisses, but at last Justin couldn't take it anymore and put his hand at the nape of Austin's neck. He pulled him in even closer, opening his mouth to let Austin's tongue in, and caressed it with his own.

Austin let out an ever so soft moan, giving in to sensation. Eager to get even closer, he put his leg between Justin's, losing himself in the other boy's kisses.

"Oh lord" Justin thought, as they kept kissing, not able to stop now that they had started. He felt something stiff against his leg, and when he realized what it was he broke away, needing to catch his breath. He caught Austin looking him between his legs, and realized he was hard too.

"Wait, wait, I need to breathe" Justin panted, overwhelmed with what had just happened.

"Yeah, yeah, okay" Austin mumbled, also feeling the need to take it slow for a few seconds.

They rolled over on their sides, still gazing into each other's eyes. Slowly, Austin moved to brush a few strands of hair out of Justin's café-au-lait coloured face. He moved in to kiss him once again, and as much as Justin kept thinking he should stop, he found himself not wanting to. Not just yet.

When he felt soft hands pulling down the zipper on his jeans, he was way too aroused to put an end to the make out session.

Austin wasn't sure what the hell he was doing, but he knew he wanted to, so badly. Justin was so adorable, so funny, so amazing. He wanted to touch him, hold him, kiss him, and tell him things he previously had thought boys could only tell girls.

Justin felt Austin's tentative hand around him, and couldn't stop himself from moaning against Austin's lips. He couldn't talk, only think and feel.

_Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Don't Stop Please Touch Me Oh God Oh God Austin….._

"Ohhhh…." He groaned as waves of pleasure rippled through him. He threw his arms around Austin, clutching him tightly to him, while trying to bring order to his chaotic thoughts.

"God, what just happened?" he thought, while breathing heavily. Austin was still overwhelmed with the realization of what he'd just done, and they both rolled onto their backs, looking up into the ceiling.

For several minutes, they just lay next to each other, quietly thinking through what had just happened.

"Austin?" Justin mumbled at last.

"Yeah?" Austin replied, trying to figure out if this meant they'd just had sex or not.

"I've never done that before" Justin said softly, weaving his fingers together with Austin's. It was the first time they'd ever held hands.

"Me either" Austin breathed, deciding that it hadn't been sex, but not just making out either.

Justin looked up at the stars he'd put in the ceiling as a child. They glowed in the dark, and were totally un-stylish, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to take them down.

"Austin?" he repeated, eyes still glued to the plastic stars.

"Uh-huh" Austin replied, feeling himself smile at his companion, even though he himself was busy trying to comprehend what was going on between them.

"I think I'm in love with you" Justin confessed, in that way only teenagers who have yet not been hurt by a lover do. Scared of their new feelings, but still so young and inexperienced that they aren't afraid of uttering words of love.

"I think I'm in love with you too" Austin replied, and turned to the dark haired boy next to him. Justin turned around as well, silently regarding him from his side of the bed. He frowned, clearly thinking something through.

"Does that mean you're my boyfriend now?" he asked, not knowing what kind of answer he wanted.

Austin thought about it. Did it mean that they were together now? They hadn't been seeing each other that long, and this was the first time anything serious had happened between them. They hadn't really… _done it_ yet. But then again, was that really a requirement?

"Well… I'd like you to be _my _boyfriend. So… if you want me to be yours… Then I'm in" Austin replied at last.

Justin thought it over. It _did _make sense.

"Yeah… yeah, I think I'd like that" Justin smiled. Austin smiled back at him, unable to look away from those dark eyes, both boys suddenly aware of the fact that they'd both just entered their first serious relationship.

I

Meanwhile, Bobby Talercio and Ignacio just came back from grocery shopping. Bobby was still mulling over the fact that Justin had rejected him twice that week. First, he didn't wanna come to his bachelor party, even though he had agreed to come at last, only to spend the evening texting his friends. Today, when Bobby had tried to cheer him up by offering to take him to the Beyoncé concert, Justin had once again rejected him for the sake of hanging out with that Austin kid.

"Yeah it's just… I don't get it, he used to like me" Bobby complained while unpacking the groceries, feeling hurt, and at the same time sounding annoyed. "Why am I so bad to hang around all of a sudden?"

"There's no explaining teenagers, brother!" Ignacio chuckled, while putting yoghurt and milk in the fridge.

"I even offered to take his buddy too!" Bobby exclaimed, waving his hands, all caught up in his own annoyance and helplessness. "I don't know why he doesn't want me there…" he asked out to no one in particular, handing over vegetables to Ignacio.

"You're trying to hard Bobby" Ignacio told him, with the knowing tone of an older man who has been through the same thing many times before, and learned that it's just a part of kids growing up.

"Justin will come back to you, when he's ready" he promised him, and put a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Bobby nodded to himself, not entirely convinced, but ready to give up."Yeah, you're right…" he mumbled, almost to himself. Ignacio patted his back, thinking the conversation was over.

All of a sudden Bobby lit up, a new idea popping up in his head.

"Hey, I'm gonna go talk to him!" he said, convinced it was the right thing to do. Ignacio knew it wasn't, but never got around to stop him.

I

"I had a great time today" Austin said as he got ready to head back home.

"Me too" Justin said, smiling at the boy standing in front of him in the vestibule. Both their heads were still swirling from what had happened earlier. Now that they had broken the ice in terms of physical contact, all they could think of was doing it again. Like all people who have just fallen in love, it seemed as if they were the only two people in the world.

Now wasn't the right time, but they just couldn't resist. Still somewhat clumsily, they leaned in to kiss, instantly losing themselves in the sensation of their lips and tongues meeting. Both boys completely forgot there was a window in the door to the vestibule.

Bobby stomped out into the hallway, trying to figure out the best way to approach Justin. Looking up, he saw something he hadn't quite expected to see. Shocked, and unable to take his eyes off it, he watched his soon-to-be stepson kiss what Bobby had thought was his friend, but now instantly realized was probably his boyfriend.

Something wasn't quite right, and for just one second, Justin opened his eyes, and instantly pulled away. Austin had his back to the door and didn't see what Justin saw, until he turned around.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck" Justin thought, his heart racing. He felt himself panicking. He couldn't take his eyes off Bobby, who was still standing there, looking completely taken aback.

"Uh… I should probably go" Austin mumbled, knowing this was something between Justin and Bobby.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll call you later" Justin breathed, still looking at Bobby.

Austin nodded, and let himself out the door. Justin took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't avoid confrontation any longer, and opened the door and slipped into the hallway. Feeling deeply ashamed, he looked up at Bobby, who was still fumbling for words. Seeing this as his chance to sneak out of it, Justin quickly made his way up the stairs, but Bobby finally pulled himself together.

"Hey you know, I was thinking about the concert, I mean, uh, y-y-y-you guys can go" Bobby stuttered, still a bit shocked. Justin stopped dead in his tracks, realizing he wouldn't get away. He turned around, feeling almost desperate, and then nearly ran down the stairs again.

"Just, please don't tell anyone" he pleaded with Bobby, with the look of a sad and scared puppy on his face.

Bobby, who had finally reached a spot where he was comfortable again, knew that their relationship depended on his next sentence.  
"No, of course not" he reassured the boy, knowing it was the right thing to say.

"Not even my mom!" Justin told him, ordered him. Begged him.

"Okay, okay, I won't but you know, I think she'd be cool…"

"I just don't want her to know!" Justin interrupted him; feeling like the panic would consume him.

"Alright, it's just between us" Bobby promised him, his voice soft and almost that of a father.

"Okay" Justin breathed, and went upstairs to his room, leaving Bobby feeling like he'd just accepted a way too heavy burden to carry.

I

Justin threw himself down on his bed, fighting the tears and the nausea. He hadn't expected to feel like this at the thought of his family finding out about him and Austin. He'd been so caught up in his crush that he hadn't considered the consequences. He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready to admit to them he might be gay.

"Uuuuuhhhh…" he groaned into his pillow, wishing he hadn't been so stupid.

Why the hell did he have to kiss him in the vestibule?

Justin didn't get much sleep that night, not even after Austin texted him, asking if they were still together after what happened earlier. Despite his breakdown, the answer was clear to him.

_From: Justin_

_To: Austin_

_As long as you let me stay at your place when I'm sad, I'm still your boyfriend_

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Revelations

**Revelations**

"So Danny and I went to the mall yesterday, and guess who we ran into at the café? My ex boyfriend! Can you believe how awkward that was?" Vicky exclaimed while making gestures with one hand, and shoveling food into her mouth with the other. Normally, this would have elicited some kind of shocked/excited/baffled response from Justin Suarez, who was sitting opposed to her at the table. Today however, Justin didn't seem to have heard one word of what his friend had told him. Instead, he was miles away, resting his head in his hand, eyes glazed over.

Vicky frowned and turned to Bella, who was sitting next to her, and gave her a 'what is wrong with him?' look. Bella shrugged, looking equally baffled.

"Hello! Earth to Justin!" Bella called out, and slapped Justin on the arm. That did the trick; as if he'd been sleeping, Justin blinked and shook his head.

"What?" he said, and looked at the girls in front of him.

"Jeez Justin, what's up with you today? You've hardly said a word since morning, and now you're not even listening when I'm talking to you" Vicky said, a look of concern emerging on her face.

Justin looked down at his plate, feeling his hands go all sweaty. He hated having to hide, especially from Vicky and Bella, who were his only friends. He couldn't bring himself to tell them what was wrong, and at the same time he felt like he would explode if he didn't say something soon.

He looked around to see if there was anyone from their school at the café, but he could only see grownups who were typing on their laptops while gulping down coffee. He took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't end up without friends after having told them his secret.

"Can I tell you something?" he nearly whispered, hands tightly clutched around his coffee cup.

Vicky and Bella nodded, both girls with looks of concern on their faces.

"Justin, you know you can tell us anything" Bella assured him, putting her hand on his. He let go of the mug to weave his fingers with hers, needing the support.

Feeling like his heart would burst out of his chest, he closed his eyes to pull himself together before he continued.

"So yesterday my… I guess you could call him my stepfather walked in on me…doing something… and now he's probably gonna tell the rest of the family, and I don't know what to do" Justin rambled, not looking at his friends.

Vicky and Bella exchanged looks, neither of them following.

"Uhm so… what did you do Justin?" Vicky carefully asked, grabbing Justin's other hand. Justin looked up at her, trying to gather enough courage to let those last words out of his mouth, but they seemed huge. It felt as if they were stuck in his throat, larger than mountains and burning like fire.

"He caught me and Austin kissing in the vestibule" he breathed, finally getting it out of him. Feeling like he would faint if he didn't hold on to something, he clutched both girls' hands tightly, hoping they were still his friends.

"Who's Austin?" Bella asked, with the beginning of a wicked smile at the corner of her mouth. Vicky looked the same, although she'd already guessed the truth.

"I think he's my boyfriend" Justin mumbled, feeling emotionally drained.

"Justin, why haven't you told us? Oh my god!" Vicky called out excitedly, a bright smile adorning her aquiline features. Bella was equally excited, and squeezed Justin's hand before she let go. Justin, who had finally realized they wouldn't run away and leave him by himself, let out a sigh of relief.

"So, you're okay with it? Like, honestly?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh come on Justin, we'd already guessed as much. Of course we're okay with it!" Bella told him, still smiling.

"Guessed what?" Justin frowned. "That you're… Uhh" Vicky began, but interrupted herself as it hit her that Justin wasn't ready to admit _that _much yet. "That you're seeing someone" Bella inserted, and Vicky nodded in agreement.

"Oh…." Justin said, not sure that he was comfortable with that thought. If they had guessed he was seeing someone, then his family might have as well.

He felt his cell vibrate his pocket, and he picked it up to check his messages, needing to take his mind off the matter for a few seconds. He still felt overwhelmed having told his friends about him and Austin.

He flipped open the lid, and couldn't stop himself from smiling when he noticed who it was from.

_From: Austin_

_To: Justin_

_3 hours til our first date. I wish I had a car so I could pick you up._

Totally forgetting about his friends, he immediately typed a reply.

_From: Justin_

_To: Austin_

_I wish 3 hours had passed already._

Still smiling, he put the phone back in his pocket, lost in thoughts for a second. He caught sight of his friends, who were smirking from across the table.

"Uhh… I gotta go. Uhm, I guess I'll see you later" Justin said, while rising from his seat. He put on his coat, hands fumbling with the buttons. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stopped for a second, looking at Vicky and Bella.

"So… thanks for not freaking out" he breathed, not wanting to linger on the subject. Quietly, both girls got up from the table, and gathered him up in a warm embrace. Justin, who hadn't wanted to be touched since he was afraid he'd break into tears, finally allowed his friends to show him just how much they cared about him. Leaning into the hug, he was grateful to know that at least two people in this world would support him.

He broke away from them, shooting off a small smile.

"Bye!" he said, and walked out from the café. Vicky and Bella watched him leave, and when they were sure he was no longer within hearing distance, Bella turned to Vicky and stretched her hand out.

"Told you he was gay" she smirked, urging Vicky to pay up. Vicky sighed, and picked up her wallet.

"Little bitch owes me 20 bucks" she mumbled, while pressing a green bill into Bella's hand.

I

Bobby Talercio opened his second beer for the evening, knowing he'd have many more before the night was over. Upstairs, Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" was on at full blast, making all the walls clatter. He contemplated telling Justin to turn down the volume, but he decided not to. Instead, he increased the volume on the TV, trying to focus on the game instead of the events of yesterday.

Bobby took a sip of his beer, still not able to get the image of Justin and that Austin kid out of his head. They'd been kissing. Sure, Justin had always been… well, fey, but Bobby had been too caught up in his romance with the boy's mother Hilda to pay too much attention to a 15-year old kid.

"Urrrgh" Bobby groaned, and took another sip. He cared about the boy, he honestly did. He was funny, albeit in a fashion-obsessed, sassy way, and there was a lot of Hilda in him. But this secret was weighing on him.

"Is this what it's like to be a father?" he mused to himself. Finishing off his beer, he realized he'd probably hit the nail on the head.

"The joy of parenthood" Bobby sighed, and got up to get himself another drink.

I

"All mah single ladies, all mah single ladies, now put ya hands up" Justin sang while doing a twirl in front of his mirror. He stopped to look at himself, still singing along with 'Miss Bootylicious herself' as Bobby so accurately had put it, and inspected the outfit he'd chosen for his date with Austin. Black blazer, tight blue jeans, a black t-shirt with the print "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts", and black leather boots. A large silver chain hung around his neck, and bracelets adorned his wrists.

"Ouuw!" Justin purred and put his hand on his hip. "If ya like it then ya shoulda put a ring on it" he told his reflection, feeling pleased with what he saw. Twirling around, he picked his bag up on the way out of his room, still humming to himself.

He flew down the stairs, spotting Bobby on the couch, but chose to ignore him and headed straight for the coat rack. They hadn't spoken since yesterday, and Justin was not about to break the silence just yet. Flinging on his coat while on the way out through the door, he disappeared without even saying goodbye.

Bobby sighed, but decided to let it pass. With Justin out for the evening, and Ignacio spending the night at Elena's, Bobby was free to spend his evening trying to figure out what he'd do when Hilda got back from London. He hated having to keep a secret from her.

"You agreed to this when you asked her to marry you" he told himself, knowing it was true.

I

Austin flipped open the phone, knowing there was no new message, but still hoping there would be. His feet were cold from waiting outside Madison Square Garden, and he couldn't resist wondering if Justin had decided to bail on him.

"Oh come on Austin, Justin wouldn't bail on you. He's way too sophisticated for that" he told himself, and then he laughed to himself at the thought. Justin was adorable, but he did have his own way of doing things.

The street outside the Garden was crowded, and Austin silently wondered how the hell he would be able to spot Justin among all these people. Before he knew it though, he caught sight of a skinny, dark-haired boy with his hands deeply shoved into the pockets of his grey coat.

"Justin!" Austin called out, and waved his hand while standing on his toes. Justin didn't see him at first, but then their eyes met and both boys smiled.

Justin walked up to the sandy-haired boy, and for a moment they were both thinking they didn't care that there were people around them, desperately wanting to kiss. Instead, they both looked down at their feet, feeling awkward but at the same time happy.

"So… shall we?" Justin asked, pointing at the entrance.

"Yeah, I wanna get something to drink" Austin said, and they walked alongside towards the counter inside the entrance hall.

Carrying their sodas, they made their way into the arena, Austin checking their tickets to see where they'd sit.

"199, 200, 201, 202, here it is! 203 and 204!" he told Justin, and pointed to their seats.

"Can you just take my soda while I take my coat off?" Justin asked, and handed over his drink to Austin. He shimmied out of his coat and took his seat, grabbing both drinks to let Austin take his jacket off as well.

They both sat in silence for a while, the sound of the crowd being almost deafening. All the lights were on the stage, and it was dark where they sat, adding to the excitement of the night.

Justin stole a glance of Austin, who was busy watching the opening act. "He's gorgeous" Justin thought, suddenly feeling proud to be on a date with such a handsome boy. Austin had dressed up, wearing a white buttoned-up shirt and black jeans, and red checkered sneakers. Yes, he was indeed a good-looking boy.

Still looking at his date, Justin let his hand sneak over to Austin's side, finding his companion's soft hand and weaving their fingers together.

Austin took his eyes off the opening act, and looked at Justin. Gently, he leaned in and brushed his lips against the dark-haired boy's, and then he pulled back and smiled at Justin.

Justin smiled back, allowing himself to forget about his troubles for a while, and then they both joined in with the crowd as Miss Bootylicious entered the stage.

I

"Oh my God, I am so not getting any sleep tonight, I'll so be up practicing my 'Single Ladies' routine" Justin excitedly announced, his smile running from ear to ear as he practically danced down the street.

"Yeah, the concert was pretty good, wasn't it?" Austin agreed, nodding his head while smiling at Justin's excitement.

Justin stopped dead in his tracks, turning to Austin with a shocked expression on his face, his mouth half open.

"'Pretty good'?" he asked, as if Austin just had insulted everything that was holy. Austin fought to keep himself from laughing out loud.

"Was Julie Andrews 'pretty good' when she played a woman who plays a man who dresses up as a woman? _That _wasn't pretty good, that was historic!" Justin loudly proclaimed while giving Austin the hand. The Latino boy turned around and began walking again, leaving behind Austin who was still trying to swallow his laughter.

"Okay okay, I give in, she was _excellent, _alright" Austin called out, while jogging to catch up with Justin. Justin slowed down as Austin came up alongside him, turning to his companion.

"You don't need to tell _me _that!" Justin casually stated. Austin could do nothing but giggle.

"So, are we going back to your place?" Austin asked, changing the subject. There was no point in discussing these things with Justin.

Justin felt an invisible hand squeeze his heart at the thought of bringing Austin back to his place after what had happened yesterday with Bobby, but decided to ignore it. Bobby already knew; it couldn't get much worse than that.

"If you want to" he replied shyly, the _other _events of yesterday also still fresh in his mind.

The day before, they'd made out for the first time. Justin had never kissed anyone like that before, and as much as he'd love to do it again, he was a little nervous about what might happen if Austin spent the night in his room. They hadn't really talked about their previous experiences, and to be honest, Justin didn't have much experience of _anything._ What if Austin wanted more than he could give? Justin was still struggling with the fact that he was dating another boy.

"I'm game if you are" Austin said, in his usual confident way.

"My place it is then" Justin announced, knowing that despite his nervousness, he really didn't want this night to end.

I

Justin turned the key around as quietly as possible. Austin was standing next to him, feeling his feet getting colder by the second. "That's the price you pay for looking good" he thought to himself, looking down at his checkered sneakers that were indeed good-looking, but not particularly warm.

They tiptoed into the hallway, quietly taking their coats off by the rack. Justin caught sight of Bobby, who was sleeping heavily on the couch, beer bottles covering the surface of the table.

"You go upstairs to my room, I'll be there in a sec" Justin whispered, and turned around to hang his coat up.

Austin silently regarded him, feeling a scent of musky perfume and hair products wafting into his nostrils. Without thinking, he put his hands on the other boy's hips, and pressed his lips against the nape of Justin's neck. Justin froze, feeling Austin's breath against his skin, and suddenly he had goose bumps all over.

"Alright, see you there" Austin whispered behind him, and left Justin standing in the hallway.

The Latin boy shuddered, not understanding how something that simple could feel so good.

He quickly assembled himself, and made his way into the kitchen. He grabbed two beers from the fridge, knowing there was no way Bobby would be able to remember how many he'd been drinking, and quietly made his way up the stairs to his room.

He slipped through the door, and softly shut it behind him. Austin had lit the lamp on the nightstand, and was sitting on the bed looking slightly out of place. "Perhaps he's nervous too" Justin thought, and held out the bottles towards the sandy-haired boy.

"Wanna join me for a drink?" Justin smirked, trying to sound confident.

"Sure" Austin replied as casually as he could. He hadn't forgotten about yesterday either.

"Let's go out on the balcony" Justin said, pointing at the glass door by the window.

Since there was no furniture on the balcony, they sat down next to each other on the floor. Justin handed over one of the bottles to Austin, and put his own down. He fiddled around in his pocket, and picked up a pack of cigarettes while Austin opened the beer bottles.

"There's only one left, I got them from Lily" Justin explained when he saw Austin frowning. "Might as well smoke it, I'm throwing the lighter away" he continued, putting the cigarette between his lips and lighting it. He took a deep drag, and handed it over to Austin, who shrugged and accepted it.

"I didn't know you smoked" Austin said, while taking a drag on the cigarette.

"I don't" Justin mumbled, clutching his knees to his chest. Austin nodded, and took another drag. The smoke burnt his throat, and it took all his strength not to cough. He'd never smoked before.

He handed over the cigarette to Justin, who seemed to have tried smoking both once and twice before.

"I really enjoyed going out with you tonight" Austin continued, taking a sip of the beer. Justin, who was busy with the cigarette, turned to him, a smile appearing on his face.

"I enjoyed it too" he replied, while blowing out a plume of smoke. On this balcony in New York City, this starry night, in the dark, it looked strangely romantic. His dark eyes were shining, and his teeth were standing out against his dark skin.

As quietly as possible, they finished off their beers and the cigarette, and went back inside. Austin, who had started shivering from the cold, shook off his jacket to let the warmth in. Justin, who had taken off his own coat, suddenly felt awkward. What were they supposed to do now?

"So… do you want me to sleep on the couch or should I take the floor…?" Austin asked, starting to doubt that it had been a good idea to follow Justin home. Justin felt his toes tingle, and contemplated telling Austin to sleep on the couch, but heard himself tell him otherwise.

"No, no, it's cool, we can share the bed" Justin rambled, giggling nervously. "Oh hell" he thought, but shook his nervousness away. "I'll just go change" he continued, and picked up a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt from the chair next to his mirror.

"Could you lend me a t-shirt or something?" Austin asked, and tugged at his white shirt. "Wouldn't wanna sleep in this" he smiled, and Justin nodded.

"Yeah, of course" he replied, and opened to closet to get Austin something to wear for the night. He tossed a large black t-shirt at Austin, who caught it mid-air.

"Be right back" Justin said, and slipped out through the door.

Austin folded out the shirt Justin had handed him.

"I am a material girl?" he read out loud, eyeing the print of Madonna. Giggling to himself, he began undressing, and slipped the night shirt over his head, and decided he'd crawl under the covers while waiting for Justin. He spotted a bowl of breath mints on the nightstand, and took two, just to be safe. "Shoulda known Justin's no fan of morning breath" he thought to himself, deciding he liked that part of Justin's personality.

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Justin had just changed into his shorts and tee, and was clenching his hands to stop them from shaking. "Stop being so silly, just get in there" he told himself, and made his way back to his room.

He could hardly see anything, as Austin had turned the light off. Knowing his way around the room by heart, he soon found the edge of the bed, and he could hear Austin moving closer to the wall to make room for him. Pulling back the covers, he climbed in next to the other boy, hearing his breath echo against the walls.

"Hi" Austin whispered, pulling him closer to him. Justin deciding he liked feeling Austin next to him, and wrapped his arms around the sandy-haired boy.

"Hi" he mumbled, burying his face into Austin's neck, feeling his hair tickling his nose.

"You smell like smoke" Austin told him.

"Ugh, gross" Justin groaned. "You too" he pointed out, and they started laughing.

For a while, they just lay next to each other, arms and legs entwined, enjoying being close.

Justin turned around, and felt his nose bump into Austin's, their lips almost touching. He moved in closer and they let their mouths find each other, and their tongues met for the first time since the day before. Kissing felt even better than it had yesterday, and they turned to each other completely, locked in a warm embrace. Justin let his hands slip underneath Austin's shirt, softly caressing the hair that had started growing on his belly. Suddenly feeling brave, he rolled over on top of the other boy, a move that elicited a soft moan from his companion. Still locked in a kiss, they pressed their bodies against each other, feeling the sweat building up on both their foreheads. Justin didn't know where his arms and legs ended and where Austin's began, his head swirling from the excitement of the moment.

_I love kissing you, don't stop just yet, please kiss me baby, kiss me, kiss me, oh Austin…_

Austin held Justin tightly to him, letting his hands find their way underneath Justin's shirt. The Latino boy broke away, tentatively tracing Austin's jaw line with his lips.

Both boys were breathing heavily, the sound almost deafening in the dead silent room. It was too much, he wasn't ready yet. Feeling terribly warm and sweaty and aroused, Justin let himself collapse against Austin, who was trying to catch his own breath.

"Maybe we should take it easy" Justin mumbled into Austin's hair. Austin could only nod, feeling too excited to talk. The sandy-haired boy raked his hands through Justin's dark curls, enjoying his weight against his body.

"I'm not sure I know how to… you know, with another guy" Austin began, trying to find the right words to explain what he felt. Even though he would have loved to go all the way, he, like Justin, didn't feel ready just yet.

"I'm not sure I know how to _at all_" Justin confessed, and turned to lie on his back. "Have you ever done it before?" he asked his friend, suddenly feeling insecure. Maybe Austin had done it all, several times, and he would laugh at Justin who had barely kissed anyone before they'd met.

"Once, with this girl, but we never talked much after it happened" Austin told him, letting his hand find Justin's underneath the covers.

"Oh…" Justin breathed, not sure what to say.

"But it wasn't like with you" Austin continued, feeling the need to explain. "I mean… it wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. Touching you… felt really great" he finished, the tone in his voice suddenly changing. _Touching you once felt 1000 times better than going all the way with her _he thought, but the realization was still too overwhelming for him to share it with Justin.

Justin felt himself blushing at the thought of what Austin had done to him the other day, still surprised at the other boy's bold move. Not knowing what to say, he remained silent, feeling his eyelids go heavier. Just when he was about to fall asleep, Austin asked him something.

"W-what?" Justin mumbled, having drifted off for a few seconds.

"Do you want to come to dinner at my house on Sunday? As my boyfriend?" Austin repeated, not sure if he had the courage to ask once again.

Justin suddenly felt wide awake, and went from overheated to frozen in less than 2 seconds.

Austin felt his companion stiffen, knowing that Justin had troubles handling their relationship, and thought to himself that it might have been a terrible idea to ask that much of him.

"Forget it, it's a stupid idea, go to sleep" he hastily added, trying to cover up his mistake.

"No! No, it's a great idea" Justin interrupted him, trying to convince himself that he was actually into the thought. "Maybe… maybe it's a good thing to start with your family. Like, as long as my family doesn't need to know anything yet" Justin rambled, needing to know their secret was safe for the time being.

"Alright. So… I'll tell my parents. And, if everything goes well, we'll go to my place for dinner?" Austin began, wondering to himself if he was ready to do this. "They'll be fine" he reassured himself, desperately hoping it was true. "So… what do you say?" he continued, nudging Justin slightly.

"Urgghh…." Justin groaned. "Okay. It's a great idea, I love it" he sighed, not meaning one word.

They quietly wrapped their arms around each other, and shut their eyes. Despite both boys feeling like their heads would explode from all the thoughts that were swirling around in there, sleeping next to each other did feel really good. Somewhat content, they fell asleep, still clinging to one another.

I

Austin stared at his reflection. The boy looking back at him was 15, going on 16, with sand-coloured hair, blue almond eyes, and a wide smile that made his already prominent cheekbones pop out even more. He was thin, but not skinny like Justin, with a body shape that bore the promise of nicely toned muscles in the future.

"Come on boy, you can do this" he encouraged himself, trying to muster up the courage to tell his parents about his and Justin's relationship. His entire family was in the living room watching Letterman, and he might as well tell them all at once. Feeling clammy, he turned the taps to splash some cold water onto his face. Taking one last look at his reflection, he filled his lungs with air, and then breathed out heavily. It was now or never.

In the living room, his mother Megan was having a cup of tea, while his father Pete's eyes were glued to the screen. His 18-year old sister Karen was curled up in one of the armchairs, busy with her cell phone. His brother Joe, who was 19, was having a sandwich, completely caught up in the show.

For a second, Austin contemplated running away, the sight of his entire family scaring him like never before. Austin was a natural actor, needing to be the center of attention, but this time it was different. He wished there was another way of doing this, but knowing there wasn't, he swallowed the lump in his throat and squeezed himself down between his parents, who barely moved a muscle.

Breathing heavily, feelings his palms go sweaty once again, he decided there was no way out of it, and he cleared his throat to get his family's attention.

"Mom, Dad" he began, his heart thumping hysterically against his rib cage.

"Mhm" his parents said, not taking their eyes off the TV.

_Darn it_, Austin thought, and raised his voice a few notches. "I have something important to ask you" he said, hoping it would do the trick.

His parents finally turned away from Letterman, both looking slightly interested, but not exactly thrilled.

"Yes honey?" his mom said, urging him to continue.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck I can't do this look at them they don't even care oh hell here goes nothing_

Austin looked down at his hands, and then decided the best way to do this was to act casual, as if there was nothing weird going on.

"Can I bring someone special to dinner tomorrow?" he asked, trying to sound confident. He saw his father widen his eyes in surprise, a smile emerging in the corner of his mouth. His mother's eyes softened, as she was thinking what his father was thinking.

"Told you so" Pete shot at Megan, smiling triumphantly. His mother smiled back.

"So, who is it that you want to bring to dinner tomorrow?" she smirked, having guessed that her son was seeing someone already.

"My boyfriend, Justin" Austin breathed, relieved to finally get it out. His brother and sister both turned away from their cell phones, suddenly listening up. His mother's smile stiffened, and his father kept opening and shutting his mouth, not sure what to say.

"Boyfriend?" his brother snarled, making a sound that might have meant he was surprised, or disgusted, depending on who you asked.

"Yes. I would like to bring my boyfriend to dinner tomorrow. Is that okay?" Austin continued, trying to keep his voice steady. That lump in his throat had found its way back again, and he kept swallowing but it wouldn't go away.

His father sighed, and hid his face in his hands, trying to calm down. His mother found her equilibrium before him, and tried to put on a neutral face.

"Sweetie, you never told us you have a boyfriend. Is it something that happened just recently…?" Megan asked tentatively, studying the face of her 15-year old son, whom she'd thought she knew up until now. Now, he looked like a stranger. "Cut it out Megan, he's still your little boy" she chastised herself, even though she didn't quite believe it.

"I don't know… I guess" Austin shrugged.

"Wait, so does this mean you're gay?" his sister asked, in a stupid, but not mean way. His mom turned angrily to her, but his father just shuddered. His brother sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well… I… I don't know. Maybe. Look, is it okay if I bring him to dinner or not?" Austin repeated, starting to feel annoyed.

He felt them staring at him, but decided to stand his ground. His father finally looked up, revealing a pair of blue eyes identical to his own. He put his hand on Austin's shoulder, softly patting it.

"Of course it's okay Austin. We're just a little taken aback, that's all" he said in his deep, rumbling voice.

"So… uhm… you're all like, cool… you know, with him coming over?" Austin breathed, hoping the worst was over.

His mother smiled, and pulled him in for a hug. Inside, her heart was breaking, but she couldn't bring herself to scold her baby, her youngest, her precious little son who had inherited his father's beautiful eyes. The very same eyes she'd gazed into 20 years earlier, when she fell in love with Pete.

Joe shrugged once again. "I don't really like it. You know, two dudes together… But hey… you're my little brother. Bring the guy over, I'm sure he's great" he said, trying not to sound like Austin had let the team down. His sister just nodded, not really caring.

Austin took a breather. No one had shouted. No one was crying. He thought that might be a good sign.

"Uh, so… I'll go call him" he excused himself, needing a moment to himself.

In the living room, his family was still not sure what to say or do, but given that Austin had already left, they figured they might as well continue watching Letterman.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents

In many roman-catholic families, a Sunday breakfast is usually followed by a visit to the church for Sunday mass. However, the Suarez clan was expecting the return of its two daughters, and thus Bobby, Ignacio, and Justin deemed themselves relieved of church duty. Not that they would have gone anyway; Ignacio only went on Christmas and Easter, Bobby knew Hilda would kill him if he told the priest about what had happened before he told her, and Justin was way too busy wondering if he'd finally received that one-way ticket to hell he'd been dreading all these years.

This morning, Papi was making breakfast as usual, singing to himself in Spanish as he tripped along the kitchen.

"You boys want some more eggs?" he called out cheerfully while stirring around egg batter in the frying pan.

Justin and Bobby, who were sitting as far away from each other as possible, each mumbled their no-thank-you's. Bobby was occupied with the paper, and Justin was frantically typing on his cell phone.

"Ay, but I made so much…" Ignacio sighed, mourning his perfect omelet which would now have to go into the trash.

"You could use some protein young man, it would help you build some muscles" Papi lectured, and pointed his spatula at Justin, who didn't bother to look up from his cell phone.

"Neanderthals are extinct grandpa, the human race developed into slender beings like _moi_ for a reason" Justin said right back at Papi, arrogantly arching one eyebrow while still typing.

Ignacio frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?" he wondered, lowering the spatula.

Justin looked up at his grandfather. "No more protein please" he shot at him, rolling his eyes before returning to his cell phone.

Papi regarded his grandson, studying his slumped posture and his neck where his trimmed hair had begun growing out in tight, black curls. Justin could be terribly arrogant, like any teenager, but he was rarely rude. Something was up.

He looked over at Bobby who was still reading the paper while gulping down orange juice. "They haven't said a word to each other since I got back" Ignacio thought, wondering how he could have missed the tension between them. They didn't seem to be mad at each other; it was just that there was something terribly awkward about the way they interacted.

Ignacio shrugged. "It's between the two of them, there's nothing I can do" he concluded, and opened the trash bin to throw out the breakfast he'd made which no one had eaten. "What a waste" he sighed, and took off his apron and headed for the living room to watch the news.

Bobby found himself reading the same sentence over and over again, not able to process any information at the moment. Hilda was coming home tonight, and he and Justin had been walking on eggshells around each other ever since he'd caught Justin making out with Austin. Bobby had promised not to tell anyone, not even Hilda, but he felt really bad having to carry such a heavy burden. Most of all, he felt bad about him and Justin not being able to talk.

Justin on the other hand, didn't worry much about the not-talking-situation. As far as he was concerned, he would continue ignoring Bobby until his mother came back from London. If there was anyone he did _not _want to talk to about what had happened in the vestibule, it was Bobby.

He'd been texting with Austin all morning. Last night, Austin had called him, saying he'd told his parents about their relationship and that he was invited over for Sunday dinner. This had raised more questions within Justin than he was capable of handling, and he wanted nothing more than to call and cancel. However; he knew how much courage it must have taken Austin to break the news to his parents, and bailing on him felt so wrong. He would just have to suck it up and drag his sorry ass to Austin's, no matter how uncomfortable he felt.

Flipping back the lid on his phone, he rose from the chair without looking at Bobby. Bobby tried his hardest not to acknowledge that Justin had ever been at the table, keeping his eyes firmly glued at the TV-guide. However, when Justin was out of sight, he threw away the paper, and leaned over the table to bury his face in his arms. "Hilda is going to kill me" he groaned to himself.

Justin headed for his bedroom, deciding that picking out an outfit for tonight was a more urgent need than answering the disturbing questions that were swirling around in his head. He hadn't told Bobby or his grandfather that he wouldn't be home for dinner, knowing that they would most likely tell him he couldn't go. Given that his mother and aunt were coming home from an exciting trip to London, Papi and Bobby would want him to join the welcome home-party.

"For once in my life, I have a great excuse for bailing, and it just so happens that I can't use it. The irony…" Justin sighed to himself, opening up his closet only to realize he had tons of clothes but nothing to wear. He threw a glance at his cell phone to see what time it was. 6 and a half hours left until he was supposed to knock on Austin's door, washed and shaved and totally adorable.

"When I'm rich and famous, I'm totally hiring a stylist" he mumbled under his breath, wishing he'd had the liberty of asking his family for help.

I

"So at what time is he arriving?" Megan called out from the kitchen, as she was chopping onions for tonight's dinner. Her husband Pete was rinsing apples for the fruit salad they'd have for dessert, and Austin was setting the table in the dining room.

"I told him to be here around 6" Austin called back, while trying to figure out where the dessert spoons were going. "Justin would have known" he smiled to himself, feeling warm at the thought of the dark-haired boy who was soon coming over to meet his family.

"Alright!" his mother nodded, and returned to chopping the onions. She'd tried her best not to act as if she was uncomfortable with this whole situation, but she felt herself failing, at least emotionally.

"What do you think he's like?" she asked Pete, as quietly as possible. Pete looked up from his bowl of fruit, arching an eyebrow.

"I don't know. I really don't know what to expect" he confessed, leaning against the sink with his right hand.

"What if he's older?" Megan whispered worriedly, looking around to make sure Austin wasn't standing near them.

Pete frowned, looking slightly shocked. "What, you mean like a grown man? Come on Megan, I'm sure it's not that bad" he told her, despite having wondered the same thing the night before. "It's just dinner, not an execution" he reminded her, and patted her shoulder.

Megan's eyes softened. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. It's just… he's our baby, Pete" she mumbled, covering his hand with hers.

Pete nodded knowingly. "Yeah, I know" he sighed, and then quietly proceeded with the fruit salad, needing to put his hands into use. "Let's try and make the best of this, shall we? For Austin" he pleaded with his wife. Megan nodded.

"Okay. For Austin" she breathed, knowing she at least meant _that. _

I

Austin hadn't heard a word of what his parents had said, being too excited to pay attention to what the old folks were discussing. Ever since yesterday, he'd felt so much more at ease, knowing his secret was out. Now that they all knew about Justin, he wouldn't have to worry about telling them.

Having finished setting the table, he made a beeline for the bathroom. Shower, shaving what little peach fuss he had on his upper lip and chin, hair, outfit, dinner. "So much to do, and so little time to do it" Austin sighed, as he slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He put his cell phone on the washing machine, and stripped off his clothes, forming a pile on the floor. Just as he'd turned the taps to let the water heat up, his phone rang. "What the…" he mumbled under his breath, but picked up the phone nonetheless. The screen said "JUSTIN", and he instantly replaced his frown with a smile. Flipping open the lid, he put the cell phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he said as casually as possible, knowing he couldn't be 100 % sure it wasn't Bobby or Ignacio.

"Hi, it's me" he heard Justin say on the other end.

"Hey" Austin smiled. "Look, I'm about to hop in the shower, is it important?" he asked, even though he didn't mind talking to Justin.

"No… I just wanted to talk, that's all" Justin sighed, sounding awfully tired.

"Okay, we can talk if you want to. What do you want to talk about?" Austin said, trying not to sound worried. He knew Justin wouldn't cancel, and yet he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"I dunno. I'm just nervous, that's all. But I think it's in a good way… sort of" Justin stated flatly.

"Don't be nervous, it's gonna be fine. Now you'll finally get to meet my family!" Austin encouraged him, hoping it would help.

"Yeah, that's true. I'm just really worried that I'll say something stupid you know. Like, what if they don't like me?" Justin said, and let out half a groan.

"Of course they'll like you! They're actually quite cool, you don't need to worry. And besides, I like you a lot and if I like you, they must like you too. I'm sure there's some law that says they have to feel the same as I do" Austin reassured him.

"Yeah, I'm sure I've read that somewhere too" Justin giggled.

"See, that's what I told you!" Austin exclaimed, glad the mood had lightened.

"Austin?"

"Yeah?"

"I like you too" Justin said, his voice soft and low. Austin smiled, even though Justin couldn't see him.

"I know. I've gotta go, I'm running out of hot water here" he replied just as softly, looking forward to dinner.

"Okay" Justin breathed. "See you soon".

"Yeah, see you in a bit" Austin replied, and hung up the phone. He quickly made his way into the shower, pleased to discover the water was still warm. "You're way too lucky sometimes Austin" he told himself, and then begun to wash his hair.

I

Justin hung up the phone, and chucked it away without caring where it landed. Luckily enough for the phone, he was lying on his back on the bed, quietly gazing up in the ceiling at those plastic stars that glowed in the dark. In less than two hours, he'd be having dinner with Austin's family. How the hell had he ended up in this place? Just a few weeks ago, he had kissed Lily on stage, thinking he had a crush on her. Yes, Lily was cute as a button, and she was a great actress, but kissing her had been less than exciting. Kissing Austin however… That was completely different.

"Maybe it's just him" Justin thought, and put his hand on his belly, the weight feeling strangely soothing. "Maybe it's not about boys or girls, maybe it's about Austin".

He'd always been teased for being flamboyant. For liking fashion and musicals, for not being good at sports, for being different. He'd been called 'gay' since before junior high, but that didn't mean it was true. Right?

Justin rubbed his temples, feeling how his thoughts threatened to consume him. If he thought really hard about it, it wasn't just about Austin. He liked boys; he'd always liked boys. They just hadn't let him get close enough to discover it. Instead, they'd been pushing him around, making his life a living hell. How could he possibly be gay if all boys ever did was to tantalize him?

But Austin liked him. Austin had kissed him, touched him. And Justin hadn't gotten any sleep for days, because all he could think of was doing the same to Austin, and more, so much more.

"Fuck… I think I'm gay" Justin groaned, and pressed his pillow over his face, almost hoping it would suffocate him.

I

Austin really didn't like waiting, so he sat down to watch some TV before Justin arrived for dinner.

His brother and sister were already in the living room, watching a re-run of some sit-com from the mid 90's. As it was Sunday, and they were expecting a guest, his mom had made them both dress up, albeit casually. Joe was wearing a black shirt with jeans, and Karen had put on a purple blouse and black slacks. Austin himself had decided not to scare his mother half to death by wearing something outrageous. Instead, he'd gone for dark jeans, white skin-tight tank, and a black blazer. He usually wore colourful ensembles, preferring his clothes to be loose-fitting, but today he thought it might be nice to try something new. He wasn't sure it was "him", but at least he looked good.

"I can't wait 'til Mom sees Justin, she's gonna flip" Austin giggled to himself, picturing his parents as they realized just how… well, fey, Justin was.

Megan and Pete were anxiously putting the finishing touch to the main course, not sure what to make of themselves. Austin hadn't told them anything about the person who was coming over, save for his first name, and they were making up all kinds of terrible scenarios inside their heads. None of them had any gay friends, and they had no idea what to expect.

"I wish we didn't have to do this" Megan mumbled while folding napkins.

"I can't say I love this either, but it's important to our son and we have to go through with it. He's no different from Joe and Karen" Pete firmly told her as he watched his wife go about her business.

Megan wanted to snap back at him but swallowed whatever comment she had in stock for his statement. Of course it was different. Why wouldn't it be? Now wasn't the time to argue about it though. Serve dinner, be pleasant, act normal, try not to say anything stupid, then freak out once the guest leaves for the night. "Sounds like a plan" Megan thought to herself, not aware that she'd completely shredded one of the napkins.

I

"So, this is the gateway to hell? Had no idea it was in Queens" Justin muttered to himself as he studied the townhouse in front of him. He'd been to Austin's house once before, but his family had been out and Lily had been with them. This time he'd probably be the center of attention, but for once he wasn't sure he was comfortable with that.

"Pull yourself together, Austin will be there with you" he told himself, and made his way up to the front door, carrying a large bouquet of flowers. He'd picked them out himself, and he was fairly pleased with his choice. Hopefully, Austin's family would be as well.

"Oh hell" he thought to himself, and rang the door bell.

"I'll get it!" Austin called out as he heard the door bell ring, feeling almost giddy. He rose from his armchair, ignoring his siblings who had turned away from the TV, not able to hide their curiosity.

"Karen, shut the TV off and get out in the hallway, both of you!" Pete called from the kitchen, nervously drying his sweaty hands on his jeans. He had no idea how to treat whoever was outside that door, and it worried him. He had never been confronted with something like this before, and he wasn't sure what he actually thought of it yet. "Pull yourself together man" he scolded himself, and hooked his arm in his wife's to escort her to the hallway.

Austin had hoped they'd let him get the door by himself, but naturally, they were all curious and couldn't stand waiting any longer. He opened the door, revealing a slightly nervous-looking, but adorable boy in a grey coat, his arms embracing a large bouquet of flowers wrapped in paper.

"Hi! Oh, is this your family? Hi everybody!" Justin exclaimed, waving his hand at Austin's family. "Hi" they all mumbled in unison, not sure what to think of the colourful creature in front of them.

"Wow, you brought flowers and all" Austin remarked, nodding his head at the bouquet.

"Oh yeah, these are for your mother, not you" Justin told him, moving the flowers out of Austin's reach. Austin giggled, and offered to hang up Justin's coat.

"Thanks" Justin said, and shimmied out of his grey coat, revealing a skin-tight yellow tee, a grey vest, tight purple pants, and a golden pendant around his neck. Justin never did anything half-heartedly.

"Uhm, so everybody, this is Justin Suarez, my uh… boyfriend" Austin introduced him, feeling slightly less confident than when he'd pictured this inside his head.

"Hi, I'm Justin" Justin said, and offered his hand to Pete, who shook it. "I'm Pete. Glad we could have you over" he said, smiling at the boy in front of him. "Wow, your dad totally has your eyes" Justin remarked at Austin, who felt his cheeks go red.

"I'm Megan, Austin's mother" Megan said, and feigned a smile. "Oh, then these are for you" Justin said, and handed over the bouquet. She could feel the scent of the flowers through the paper, and had to admit to herself that it was very pleasant.

"Thank you, I'll make sure they get some water" she assured him, quietly studying this stranger whom she'd been so worried of meeting. He was quite short and skinny, and younger than she'd thought he'd be, with black hair and dark skin. She thought he was somewhat Indian- or Pakistani looking, but the name "Suarez" suggested he was Hispanic. Not quite what she'd expected, but then again, neither was his being there in the first place.

"Uhm… Austin's brother and sister, Joe and Karen" she continued, and made a gesture at the two young adults next to her, who each mumbled their 'hello's'.

"Man, this is awkward" Justin thought, while keeping a smile firmly glued to his face, clenching his teeth together.

Austin regarded his family interact with Justin, and sensed he had to interfere.

"So uhm, could we move this to the dining room?" he suggested, snapping them all out of their thoughts.

"That's a great idea, I'm starving" Pete agreed, trying to lighten up the mood. The entire family turned around and marched into the dining room, leaving Austin and Justin behind. Justin kept smiling until they were out of sight, and then arched his neck back and groaned.

"Oh my God, I totally suck at this" he complained, feeling like a fish out of water.

"Oh come on, first things first. Stop worrying so much" Austin told him, knowing it could have been much worse.

"Why the hell are you so confident?" Justin pouted, rolling his eyes at the sandy-haired boy.

"I don't know, I guess some of us are just gifted" Austin giggled, and hooked two fingers in the collar of Justin's v-necked t-shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss before Justin had the time to protest.

Justin shut his eyes, more surprised than anything, and before he knew it, Austin broke away, with a wicked smile running from ear to ear.

"Come on, let's go meet the parents" he grinned, and grabbed Justin's hand and led him towards the dining room.

Justin's mouth was half open in protest, and he half considered telling Austin to stop and let him walk by himself, but then he just smiled and let the other boy escort him. Austin's hand was warm in his, and that kiss had reminded him of why he was actually there in the first place.

Hand in hand, they walked into the dining room, where Austin's family was already seated. Joe and Karen exchanged looks when they saw them together, and Megan began folding and unfolding her napkin again, but they all kept quiet.

"Uhm, you boys sit here next to me" Pete informed them, and made an inviting gesture at two empty chairs between him and Megan.

"Oh, okay" Justin nodded, and took the seat next to Megan. He felt Austin squeezing his hand before pulling away, and instantly felt better. Maybe this could turn out alright after all.

"Oh, I'm totally liking the plates, kitsch is so hot this year!" Justin exclaimed enthusiastically and clapped his hands together when he spotted the white, rose-patterned plates in front of him. Joe had to stifle a snort of laughter, and Karen arched her eyebrow at the remark. Pete shot them a 'shut up or I will kill you'-look, but Austin just smiled.

"I don't get how you keep up with all of that! I could never keep track on what's hot or not" he said, sounding both amused and amazed.

"MODE magazine, of course. I sleep with it underneath my pillow, it's like my Bible" Justin casually replied, as if anyone who didn't read MODE better start or they'd degenerate into amoebas.

Justin turned to the rest of the family.

"I'm so lucky that my aunt Betty works at MODE, she's so living my dream. If it weren't for her, I'd be like, three months behind in terms of fashion" he told them, his eyes lighting up.

Pete took a sip of his wine, not sure what he was expected to say. Joe and Karen looked at him with eyes the size of saucers, and Megan was too baffled to talk. They'd never met a boy like Justin, and had never expected to either.

Megan cleared her throat, and rose from her seat.

"Karen, could you help me get the dinner from the kitchen?" she asked her daughter, who quickly excused herself and went to assist her mother, leaving all the men behind.

"You have a very lovely home mr Brennan" Justin complimented Pete once the ladies had left. Pete smiled, deciding that even though he didn't quite understand this boy, he was a very well-behaved young man.

"Thank you Justin. So uh, how old are you? You in Austin's class?" he asked, trying to show his son that he was making an effort.

"I'm 15, but I'll be 16 in July next year. Austin and I were in the same acting class, you know, with Lena Korwinka" Justin replied, taking a sip of the coke that someone, possibly Megan, had poured up for him before he'd arrived.

"Oh, the one you dropped out of?" Pete shot at his son, who felt himself flush with embarrassment once again.

"It was a mistake, okay?" Austin mumbled, his chin drooping to his chest.

"Austin's a really great actor, I'm sure Lena would let him back in" Justin enlightened them, smiling at his companion. Austin bit his lip, and smiled back at the other boy.

"Watch out, or you might get yourself some competition!" he joked, nudging Justin in the ribs.

Pete and Joe watched them, neither of them knowing what to say, but both of them realizing that this perhaps wasn't as different as they'd expected.

I

Megan took the lid off the pot roast, feeling its rich scent easing the tension in her shoulders. Karen walked up to her, and poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle on the counter.

"Oh my god Mom, he is so camp!" Karen whispered, sounding more amused than anything.

"I know, I wonder what his mother must think. The boy doesn't look older than 15" Megan muttered, angry with herself for being so uncomfortable with the situation.

"Well, maybe he could be a nice addition to the family after all. He could help me with my nails" Karen continued, and studied the long finger nails on her left hand.

Megan gasped at her remark, and snatched the wine glass from her hand and swallowed its content in one gulp. "Hey!" Karen protested, but Megan didn't care. Karen shrugged and got herself another glass. Her mother shook her head, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"I was _not _made for this" she groaned, and proceeded to take out the pot roast.

I

"Thank you so much for all the great food Mrs Brennan, I won't have to eat for a week now" Justin told Megan after having finished his meal and dessert.

"Oh, it was nothing, I enjoy cooking for guests" Megan said, feeling herself warming up to this boy. Her having 3 glasses of wine might have had something to do with that.

"I've never had pot roast before, we usually have enchiladas on Sundays" Justin continued, not sure he was comfortable with the calm demeanor of this family. At home there was always drama, drama, drama, but here, no one was shouting or interrupting anyone.

"Oh right, your family's Mexican, right?" Pete asked, remembering Justin telling them that an hour earlier.

"Uh huh" Justin nodded, silently thanking the Mexican culture for teaching him how to handle rich food. However, it had not taught him how to drink without having to pee.

"Uhm, Austin, where's your bathroom?" he mumbled to his companion, needing a break almost as much as he needed to go.

"I'll show you" Austin mumbled back. They both turned to the other members of the family.

"Uh, would you excuse us, I just need to show Justin something" Austin told them, and they both rose from the table and made their way to the bathroom next to the hallway.

"He's a nice boy" Pete remarked once they were out of sight, his hands clasped and his elbows resting on the table.

"There's nothing wrong with him Pete, it's just that he's so… well, _fey_" Megan sighed, waving her hand at him while pouring herself some more wine.

"I think he's funny" Karen quipped, stealing the bottle from her mother before she drank all of it herself.

"Yeah, funny as in gay" Joe muttered, still not quite over the fact that his little brother had brought a _boy _home.

"Joe, stop it" his father warned him, and Joe shrugged, and helped himself to some more coke. His mother, despite being Irish-American, refused to let beer into her house, and he wasn't much of a wine drinker. "Coke it is then, Joe" he thought, wishing he'd been somewhere else.

"Look, this isn't easy for any one of us, but I think we'll have to give this Justin guy a break. He's been nothing but polite and well-behaved since he got here. Not to mention that Austin trusts us enough to bring him home to dinner" Pete lectured them, feeling himself meaning every word he was saying.

He hadn't raised his son to be ashamed of himself, so why should he suddenly be ashamed of his son?

His words hit them like a wall of fire. If Austin had brought a girl home, they wouldn't have treated her like this. Instead, they'd been mocking Justin internally, not showing much enthusiasm for his presence at their table.

"Yeah Dad… you're right. Maybe we should give this dude a chance" Joe agreed, and the rest of the family nodded, all agreeing that they should suck it up and be nice to Justin.

I

"The bathroom's here, to the left" Austin told Justin as they entered the hallway. Justin opened the door, and Austin turned around to head back to the dining room, but he felt a warm, ring-adorned hand grab his own and pull him into the bathroom.

Justin locked the door behind them, and pressed the sandy-haired boy up against the wall, locking their lips in a fierce kiss. Austin felt himself responding, and let his hands find Justin's hips.

A few seconds later, they both pulled away, both boys breathing heavily.

"You're so gorgeous" Austin mumbled, letting his eyes caress Justin's dark features.

Justin leaned in, resting his chin against Austin's shoulder. This experience was so different from anything he'd ever been through. He couldn't seem to stop touching Austin. Then again, why would he want to?

They held each other for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence between them, and the warmth of their bodies pressing against each other.

"I was thinking today" Justin mumbled into Austin's ear.

"Yeah? What were you thinking?" Austin asked, feeling Justin's warm scent fill his nostrils.

"I thought… maybe… maybe I'm gay" Justin said, sounding even younger than he was, like a child that needs solace from its parents.

Austin didn't say anything, but he had too been thinking about what their relationship actually meant. The more he thought about it, the more obvious the answer was.

"And I thought… maybe I should come here tonight, to find out. And to meet your parents of course, but maybe to see if I really want to be… you know…" Justin continued, pulling back to look Austin in the eye.

"Yeah… Yeah, I've been thinking the same" Austin told him, feeling his heart racing. They hadn't turned on the lights, and the bathroom was only illuminated by what little light came in through the window and the lamp on the porch outside. It was exciting to stand there all alone with Justin, knowing they could get caught.

"Really?" Justin asked, sounding somewhat surprised. He'd never considered that Austin had doubts; he was always so confident.

"Yeah. I think… I think I'm gay too" Austin breathed, saying it out loud for the first time.

"And… well, if it gets tough, we could always be gay together… you know…" he continued, trying to comfort the other boy whose big brown eyes looked so lost.

"Be gay together" Justin repeated, feeling the laughter bubble up within him.

"Yeah… oh, wait a second" Austin said, suddenly realizing how funny it sounded. Justin felt his body shake with laughter, and Austin quickly put his hand against his mouth to shut him up, but had difficulties keeping quiet himself.

"Shh, they'll hear us!" Austin shushed him, not convincing any of them. Feeling their bodies tremble, they pressed their lips together to try and muffle the sound of their laughter.

"Mm, Austin?" Justin giggled against Austin's mouth.

"Mhm" Austin replied, feeling his laughter change into something different.

"I really need to pee" Justin said, and they broke their kiss, both still laughing.

"I should probably get back" Austin smiled, and kissed Justin again, both boys unable to break away from each other, but with one last kiss, Austin slipped out of the bathroom.

Justin couldn't stop himself from smiling, even though his heart was heavy. Now that they'd said the words out loud, there was no going back.

I

"Thank you so much for having me over, I had a great time" Justin told the family as he tied his scarf around his neck.

"We enjoyed having you here son, you're welcome back anytime" Pete told him, knowing that it would mean much to Austin.

"It was really nice to meet you Justin. The flowers were gorgeous" Megan said, this time with a more sincere smile on her face. That didn't mean she liked the idea of him dating her son though.

"Take care man" Joe said, and Karen pulled him in for a hug, having already decided to accept him. Austin took down his coat from the hanger and handed it to him.

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself?" Austin asked as he helped Justin put on the grey coat.

"Yeah, I've called a cab, it should be here any minute" Justin assured him, wishing it had been okay for him to ask Austin to come with him.

"Uhm, I'll come outside and wait with you" Austin said, and slipped into his father's black coat and boots. He opened the front door, and felt the chilly late autumn air hit his face.

Justin waved at Austin's family, glad that the evening was finally over.

"Goodnight everybody!" he said, and shot them one last smile.

"Goodnight!" they called back in unison. "Be right back" Austin told them as he and Justin slipped out through the front door.

I

"Wow, never thought coming over for dinner could be so exhausting" Justin let out as they were heading for the sidewalk down by the road.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I'm glad you could come though" Austin said, and turned to the dark-haired boy who had stopped by the gate to wait for the cab to arrive.

Justin studied the face of the boy in front of him. "So handsome…" he thought to himself. A boy his own age, light at heart and confident. Maybe a little too cocky for his own good, but then again, so was Justin.

Still looking at Austin, he grabbed the edges of Austin's coat and pulled him closer. Their breaths were like smoke in the cold night air, and they both shivered slightly.

"I think my cab's on the way" Justin mumbled, bumping his nose into Austin's.

"Yeah, I can hear it coming down the road" Austin said softly, feeling cold and warm at the same time.

Knowing that they wouldn't be alone for long, they leaned in to kiss goodbye, their lips chilly against one another.

"Love ya" Justin mumbled against Austin's lips.

"Love ya too" Austin replied, and then broke away, and let Justin get into the cab, softly waving at him.

By the window, Austin's mother watched her son as he picked up his phone to read the text Justin had sent him from the cab.

She'd seen them as they walked hand in hand together, and she'd been shocked to see them kissing. Shocked, because she'd never seen two boys kiss before, and surprised because it looked strangely normal.

Feeling her head swirling with new realizations, she turned away from the window to get ready for bed.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
